Jon Cooper | Center

Latest News

Recent News

Tampa Bay assistant coach George Gwozdecky will leave team to pursue other opportunities.

Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning may choose to search for a replacement this off-season. Gwozdecky worked with the team for the last two years and the two sides agreed to mutually part ways. Jun 22 - 6:09 PM

Coach Jon Cooper doesn't buy into the thought process that Tampa Bay is inexperienced in the playoffs anymore.

"We've gone from an inexperienced playoff team to an experienced playoff team," Cooper said. "We've been in this position before. This team has found a way. That's why we are where we are right now. We've been in so many different situations during this playoffs, whether we've been up 3-2, or down 3-2, we've gone through this now. People can't sit here and say, the inexperienced Lightning. I think we're the 'Gamer Lightning.' These guys have gamed out this playoffs, and I expect nothing less in Game 6 in Chicago." The Lightning will look to rally in Game 6 against Chicago like they did in the opening round against Detroit. Jun 15 - 10:23 AM

Tampa head coach Jon Cooper seems to be taking the Lightning's power-play scoring drought in stride.

Tampa has scored only one goal in its last 11 man advatage chances in the Stanley Cup finals but Cooper doesn't seem overly concerned. "I tell our guys, you don’t have to score every single time, just don’t let it swing the momentum of the game,’" Cooper said. "We watched that happen in the Rangers series when they got a couple of power plays. We got the shorthanded goal on them on a five-on-three. Those are momentum swingers." That said, Cooper would still prefer to get his team going on the powerplay. "I don’t think we’ve gotten near the looks we can. You have to give them credit, they've got four guys and a goaltender that are trying to keep the puck out of the net. But yes, we feel we need to be better in that, no question." The success of the Bolts' and Hawks' powerplays might be a crucial factor in which team emerges victorious in the Cup finals. Jun 13 - 8:16 AM

Although Tampa once again holds the home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup finals, it might not be much of a boon to their chances for success.

In fact, the Lightning have not been particularily strong in the post-season at home sporting a 6-6 record and being outscored 38-32. "There was so much talk about how bad we were on the road [during the regular season], I think it changed our focus," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "There was so much talk about how good we are at home, we just took that for granted. We wanted to put a show on at home. It didn’t work out for us." It should be an interesting Game 5. Don't miss it. Puck drop is Saturday night at 8:00 pm. Jun 13 - 7:45 AM

Depth Charts

Steve Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning haven't started to work on a new contract yet.

The window to negotiate an extension with Stamkos began on July 1. "I don’t think we have any criteria on timing at this point in time," Stamkos’ agent Don Meehan said. "I’ve mentioned to Steve Yzerman that we’re going to have a meeting with Steven, and then once we’ve had the meeting with Steven, then I can go back to Steve (Yzerman). He understands that and understands that Steven is in the process of coming back home and getting acclimatized here and getting into his training. He understands the time frame in that respect." While the matter isn't urgent yet, the last thing the Tampa Bay Lightning want is to enter the season without having secured a new contract for Stamkos. That would lead to rampant speculation about his future from across the league and put the Lightning in a very difficult position.

Updating a previous post, Tyler Johnson won't need surgery for his right wrist.

There was never much fear that Johnson would need surgery, but now it appears to have been officially ruled out. Which is good news for all parties involved. Johnson will look to build on his ever-growing annual point totals which have gone from 50 as a rookie, to 72 last season.

Brian Boyle believes the Lightning missed a big opportunity to take the series lead in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

"It’s an opportunity missed,’’ center Brian Boyle said. "I think we have to figure out a way to score more, it’s a small margin for error. It wasn’t our best start and Bish held us in there - and it was kind of a fluky first goal against - but we had some chances. Their goalie played well, they played well and we need to play better. We have to understand (the Stanley Cup) is a hard thing to win and we need to play better.’’

Vladislav Namestnikov has inked a one-year, two-way deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Namestnikov had nine goals and 16 points in 43 contests last season. He went on to participate in another 12 games during Tampa Bay's 2015 playoff run and recorded an assist while averaging 7:51 minutes per contest.

Ondrej Palat scored a goal in the Lightning's 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Monday.

It was Palat's first point of the Stanley Cup Final. He now has eight goals and 16 points in 23 playoff contests. His goal total is especially impressive when you factor in that he's only recorded 32 shots on goal, giving him a 25% success rate.

Alex Killorn is the Stanley Cup Final leader with 16 scoring chances, per war-on-ice.com

Killorn has been dangerous whenever the puck touches his stick. He has two goals and 11 shots on net in the Cup Final. In the playoffs, he has nine goals and 18 points in 24 games. It pays to play with Steven Stamkos.

Cedric Paquette scored the game winning goal for the Lightning in their Game 3 win over Chicago on Monday.

Paquette poked home a goal in front of the net off a nice play from Victor Hedman at the 16:49 mark of the third period to seal the deal for the Lightning. It was his second goal in as many games and third of the playoffs for the checking forward. Paquette also had six hits and three shots on net in 12:06 TOI. Hedman had two primary assists while Ryan Callahan scored and added an assist in the win.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Jonathan Marchessault to a one-year contract extension.

Marchessault played in two regular season games and two playoff games with the Lightning this season. The 24-year-old had a very good season in the AHL as he posted 24 goals and 67 points in 68 games with the Syracuse Crunch.

Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Callahan also recorded five hits in 14:21 minutes of ice time. He hasn't been particularly productive from an offensive standpoint in the 2015 playoffs, but this was his second straight multi-point game.

Nikita Kucherov is in the lineup for Game 6 Monday night when the Lightning look to avoid elimination in Chicago.

Head coach Jon Cooper had listed Kucherov as "probable" for the game during the teams press conferences earlier in the day and the news will hold up for Monday’s game. This is fantastic news for Lightning fans as the triplets line would look very different with Jonathan Drouin replacing Kucherov. Kucherov leads the team with 23 points in 25 games played this postseason and will undoubtedly be a huge factor in deciding whether the Lightning will play a Game 7 or not.

Although Jonathan Drouin played in only six playoff games this post-season, the Lightning are still very high on the talented forward.

Bolts GM Steve Yzerman is looking for bigger and better things from the young playmaker this upcoming season. "[Drouin] is absolutely a big part of the future. He's a tremendously talented young player, a great young man, all throughout the year he's handled this situation extremely well." If there are any owners in your hockey pool who have soured on Drouin, make the call and get him on the cheap as he could have a breakout season in 2015-16.

His first helper of the playoffs came on Ryan Callahan's opening goal of the contest. Brown finished the match with a plus-2 rating and six hits. He has helped form a successful checking line alongside Callahan and Cedric Paquette, who both scored in Tampa Bay's 3-2 win over Chicago in Game 3.

Victor Hedman and Duncan Keith are considered the favorites to win the Conn Smythe.

Tyler Johnson has cooled off, and barring a big run from the other big names in the final three games, a defenseman could win the honor for the first time since 2007. Keith and Hedman are both logging the most minutes for their respective teams, and they are 1-2 in plus-minus. In the playoffs, Keith has 20 points with 18 assists, while Hedman has 14 points, 13 of which are helpers. Both also have been exceptional possession players. "In a lot of ways, yeah, (Hedman) is a guy like Duncan," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "He makes, more times than not, the players he's out there with better. He's a catalyst when he's in his own zone or the offensive zone."

Jason Garrison believes that the pace of play picked up from Game 1 to Game 2.

"Obviously we didn’t sit back tonight,’’ Garrison said. "They came in waves of pressure and I think the pace of the game tonight was much quicker than the last game. They’re going to get their chances. It’s how you respond when you get scored on. Those are the biggest moments in the game.’’ Garrison scored the game-winning goal in the third period.

Anton Stralman picked up an assist in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

His seventh helper of the postseason came when his fluttering shot was beautifully deflected into the net by Alex Killorn. The goal gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead going into the third, but then Chicago scored twice to take the victory.

Matt Carle said he doesn't believe that Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is a must-win for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"I don’t think (Game 2) is (a must-win)," Lightning defenseman Matt Carle said. "We’re pretty confident in our road game. We showed in the last round of the playoffs when we have a must-win on the road, we’ve been able to pull it out. So I don’t really think it adds a whole lot of pressure to tomorrow." It's great for Carle to be confident in his team's ability to win on the road, but if the Lightning head to Chicago down 0-2, this series could be over quickly.

Braydon Coburn is ready to get back into the lineup in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.

He took part fully in Tuesday's morning skate and feels much better after he was limited to 5:43 of ice time on Sunday because of a stomach bug. Coburn stayed on the bench despite the illness in Game 5 just in case he was needed.

Nikita Nesterov will be the headliner for the healthy scratches in Game 6 Monday night versus Chicago.

Head coach Jon Cooper has elected to go with Jonathan Drouin over Nikita Nesterov for Game 6 in Chicago which means Tampa Bay will only dress six defensemen. Nesterov has had a nice playoff debut scoring six points in 17 postseason games and a lot will be expected of him in the future. Jonathan Marchessault, Vladislav Namestinikov, and Mark Barberio will also be healthy scratches Monday night.

As expected, he received a one-way deal after he played in 72 games with the Lightning this past season. Sustr notched 13 assists, 84 blocks and a plus-10 rating during the regular season. He also dressed in 26 playoff contests and contributed two points.

He carries a salary cap hit of $3.607 million and is signed for the next three seasons, but there has been plenty of talk that his career might be over. Ohlund, who had surgery on both of his knees, hasn't played since May 27, 2011.

"The media made it worse than it was," Bishop said. "It was never completely torn. It feels good." The Tampa Bay goalie improved each day from the groin ailment that bothered him during the Stanley Cup Final and it doesn't sound like it will be an issue moving forward.

Andrei Vasilevskiy will have to co-exist with Ben Bishop for the time being.

"At some point, we'll have to make a decision, but not yet," GM Steve Yzerman said. "Whether that's one year or two years from now, I don't know. But I know we've got Bish, who has proven to be one of the top starters in the league, and we've got a really talented young guy." Bishop has two years left on his deal, which carries a cap hit of $5.95 million. Yzerman said he'd be "really comfortable" entering next season with Bishop and Vasilevskiy as Tampa Bay's goaltenders, but he did admit that Vasilevskiy will need to play more. He might get spot starts at AHL Syracuse and/or see more time behind Bishop in 2015-16.